1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a drawbar assembly for railway vehicles and particularly to a new and novel drawbar assembly which resists misalignment of the vehicle unit ends to which the drawbar is connected . The drawbar assembly has a substantially rigid drawbar member and a buffing block means constructed so as to provide a turning moment when operating under buff loading that tends to maintain the two horizontally displaced adjacent ends of railway vehicle units in alignment.
2. Prior Art
In present day practice, the standard length of the containers to be carried on flat bed railway cars is approximately 45 feet. Since the length of the longest flat bed car is limited to about 89 feet, it cannot accommodate to such containers. The construction of individual shorter 45 foot length flat bed cars each carrying one container is costly and inefficient because each car would require yokes and draft gear assemblies at each end. This inefficiency is particularly apparent when the flat bed cars are employed for carrying containers only and the cars are infrequently disconnected. Accordingly, it has been proposed to provide a flat car of 90 foot length including two sections or units of which the adjacent ends are connected by a simple drawbar assembly. The remote ends may be provided with the usual couplers, yokes and cushioning draft gear. The construction and the arrangement of a generally conventional drawbar assembly under buff loading tends to create forces which may jackknife the two adjacent railway car sections.